Talk:Luke Aikins

Suggestions for improvements

This article is in Wikipedia's In the news and so it'll get some additional views. I have a concern that it's very thin in the topic that would make it a news item. Someone would click and the only additional item they would learn is the estimated speed at some portion of the fall. I believe it would take a day of work to flesh out the details. I don't have that time available this week. When doing some cleanup I learned he had been doing practice jumps, practice at aiming at much smaller targets, etc. He jumped with an oxygen bottle and handed it to one of his fellow jumpers mid-way through the fall. The flip to facing up was not well explained in any of the news articles I read. I understand why he flipped but can't WP:RS it. The jump team has not released details such as seconds of free fall, his speed at the moment he hit the net, nor exactly how quickly the net decelerated him. It appears he gets knocked out. I estimated he took about 6 g-forces for one second. His Facebook page has useful stuff such as this post where he talks about a system he set up around the landing zone that works much like Precision approach path indicator (PAPI) for aircraft. It allowed him to see the landing zone clearly from 25,000 feet and he knew that he was zeroed in on that target during the entire drop. --Marc Kupper|talk 07:06, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

Conflicted

The statement that polyethylene is "completely inelastic" is, basically, rubbish. However, it is literally in the source. Any suggestion? To do some wikilawyering, WP:OR covers material that is being presented, not material that is being removed. complainer (talk) 12:01, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

Indeed, a nonsensical statement. I support removing it, or at least turning it into a quotation ("what one source described as a 'completely inelastic' material" or some such).-Bryanrutherford0 (talk) 12:28, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

Is the Claim True?

The current text describes him as the

"first person to intentionally dive from mid-tropospheric altitude and land safely without a parachute or a wingsuit".

Doesn't that depend on exact definitions of "intentionally" and "mid-tropospheric". As I understand the agreed facts, this guy intentionally decided to jump from his plane at the moment that he did. The alternatives were unattractive (attempt to fight the flames, cover his face and curl up in a ball in the coolest place he could find, etc) but as he self-reported his situation and actions afterwards, there was a moment when he decided to jump out without a chute. At least four other crew members stayed with the plane till it crashed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.217.170.175 (talk) 14:25, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

License

this person is not a pilot.

someone reverted this fact. take it here.

SkidMountTubularFrame (talk)

I reverted your edit. FAA says they revoked their licenses in the stunt. As I already explained on your talk page, they cannot revoke a license if he doesn't have one. MartinezMD (talk) 23:48, 15 May 2022 (UTC)

"The two longtime pilots and skydivers planned to fly a pair of Cessna 182s over Arizona and then swap between them as they descended. Aikins asked the FAA for an exemption from normal safety rules that generally prohibit pilots from leaving the controls. The agency denied the request, but he decided to go ahead, anyway."

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References

what a horrible person he is. i thought losing your cert meant you were no longer a pilot I'll check with the club next week, but I'm pretty certain this irresponsible clown lost his licence. SkidMountTubularFrame (talk) 04:13, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

You have to decide what your point is here. He is a pilot. He flies planes. He had a license at the time of the incident and lost it as a consequence. This does not take away his skillset; it makes him an unlicensed pilot, but a pilot nonetheless. MartinezMD (talk) 04:30, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

not a certified pilot. was a certified pilot. note we being certified means no longer a pilot. I'm checking with the faa at the club about the wording, and then will update accordingly. thanks again for recording this article. SkidMountTubularFrame (talk)

found more on the claim that his occupation, according to the info box, is as a pilot. he's no longer working as a pilot, SkidMountTubularFrame (talk) 21:26, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

He is (was?) also a licensed balloon pilot. Not sure if his certificate revocation included that or not. MartinezMD (talk) 21:54, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

thanks for checking, I'm rewriting the article from scratch, and any information you have will be helpful thanks again SkidMountTubularFrame (talk)